Eurotrip Day 4 - Bratislava
(Part 4 of a series.)
Bratislava surprised me, if I'm being honest. All I know about Bratislava is that it wasn't given enough justice being named in a movie. On the flip side of it, being shown that way in that movie would push Bratislava to promote its best side.
Side story: When I dubbed this trip "Eurotrip", the first thing that came into my mind was that comedy movie where the main protagonist, Scotty, travelled to Europe together with his best friends to look for the love of his life. In their adventure, they ended up in Bratislava. The movie's soundtrack is "Scotty Doesn't Know" and I suffered quite a bit of LSS on the entire trip.
Short and Sweet
For the lack of the better term. Bratislava was supposed to be an accommodation trip segment of the tour. Nothing planned, just a free day. I slept on the bus and I don't know how bad the traffic was, but when we got to Bratislava from Prague, it was already dark at 6pm.
DK told me that we must catch the tour that starts at 7pm. While she was checking in, I was busy trying to look for the way to the meet-up point of the tour. There were also no other plans after that tour, just getting dinner then resting.
The meet-up point was on the fountain in the main central square. There was a tour guide there wearing badges, and the walking tour fee would be voluntary in any amount.
The Spooky Tour
So apparently, Bratislava has a lot of spooky history, and the tour focuses on this.
It is best experienced rather than told or written. The feeling is just different when you are looking at the actual place while listening to the story. And yeah, I checked online. There were no exaggerations on the tour. Everything was factual. Combine that with the eerie amber lights of Bratislava streets, you get the perfect blend.
The old tavern the famous executioner frequents? Still exists. The hospital site where plague-sick people were admitted? Walking distance. Witch hunts? Recorded history. Countess Bathory? Spooky, and it's Bratislava history.
The tour ended on the entrance of the Castle Gates, with a view of the river.
Dinner
We had to get back because even if the castle museum was open, we'd end up being the last ones in and might not get any dinner at all. Plus I researched and found that trains only run until 10pm.
When we got back to the city square, there were plenty of restaurants but we were intimidated because we're the only tourists everywhere. We ended up choosing El Gaucho mainly because it's familiar food (Argentinian steak), and they have a branch in Makati City. It was kinda ironic that we haven't eaten in the Makati City branch, but sitting in El Gaucho, even in Bratislava, gave me a comfortable connection to home.
I was feeling uneasy for quite a bit. It was Bratislava, our first time, language barrier, hotel was quite far (and unwalkable), and DK was enjoying herself a little too much.
Anyway, the staff assigned to us in El Gaucho was very, very kind. It was like he knows how I felt at that moment and took care of us for the entire service. I hope I gave him a generous tip because I can't really remember.
We had a nice dinner. DK was happy with steak and potatoes, even when there's no rice.
On regret we have though, is that we weren't able to buy a Been There mug in Bratislava because Starbucks was already closed by the time we finished dinner. That would have been DK's most unusual mug.
Return to Hotel
We used our credit cards to buy train (tram?) tickets. On the way back, we stood in front of the ticket kiosk and a tall guy seemed like he wanted to help but decided against it. It was good that DK and I were talking loudly when looking for the station we're going to because I was holding our tickets and reading when I noticed this girl (probably a college student) standing in front of me and quite close, too.
"Excuse me, I can't help but overhear you. You're going to XXX station?"
I was "yeah, we're waiting for the number XX train". She told me that I was on the wrong platform and this station was going the opposite way. She pointed at the intersection and to the other platform going the right way. DK and I were like "oh, thank you so much" then ran off.
Whoever she is, she saved our time and probably our lives that day. THANK YOU YOUNG LADY!
So, there it was. Short and sweet stop at Bratislava. At least we got to experience it. I want to go back though, spend some more time there and tour Slovakia, too.
The following day, some of the tour members asked how our night was. When DK and I told them that we went on a walking tour, they were like "you should have told us, we could have went with you". Because just stopping by to sleep wasn't enough. Bratislava is a major city, after all.
--Raisondetroy
